Calories Per Serving Calculator
Calculate calories per serving by adding ingredient calories and dividing by the number of servings the recipe makes.
What this calculates
Tracking nutrition for homemade food means breaking a recipe into ingredients, summing calories, and dividing by servings. This calculator handles the math so you can compute calories per serving for any dish — useful for meal prep, weight loss tracking, and macro counting.
Formula & how it works
Total recipe calories = sum of (ingredient_calories × quantity_in_servings). Per-serving = total ÷ number_of_servings. Sanity check the total against ingredient breakdown — 100 g cooked rice ≈ 130 kcal, 100 g chicken breast ≈ 165 kcal, 1 tbsp olive oil ≈ 120 kcal.
Worked example
Chicken stir fry: 500 g chicken breast (825 kcal), 2 tbsp olive oil (240), 200 g rice (260 kcal cooked basis), 300 g vegetables (90), soy sauce + spices (30). Total = 1,445 kcal. Serves 4 → 361 kcal per serving. Add macros (35 g protein, 20 g carbs, 14 g fat per serving) for full tracking.
Frequently asked questions
Where do I find ingredient calories?
USDA FoodData Central (free, fdc.nal.usda.gov), MyFitnessPal database, or product nutrition labels. For unprocessed foods (chicken, rice, vegetables), USDA is the gold standard.
Raw vs cooked weight?
Calorie counts change with cooking. 100 g raw chicken = ~110 kcal, but the same chicken cooked (water lost) is ~165 kcal. Track whichever way is consistent for you — most apps use raw, weigh before cooking for accuracy.
Why do my numbers differ from restaurant menus?
Restaurants often add fat (butter, oil) you don't see. A 'salad' restaurant entrée can be 800-1200 kcal. Homemade is usually 30-50 % fewer calories for the same dish.
Cooking oil — how much sticks?
Most of it does. Don't subtract for 'oil left in the pan'. Maybe 5-10 % truly stays behind. Count what you poured in.
Related calculators
- Recipe ScalerScale any recipe up or down by changing the serving count. Multiplies every ingredient quantity proportionally.
- MacrosCalculate daily protein, carbohydrate, and fat targets for cutting, maintaining, or bulking. Supports keto, low-carb, and balanced diets.
- BMR / TDEECalculate your basal metabolic rate (BMR) and total daily energy expenditure (TDEE) — the calories you burn at rest and with activity.